Wonderful tales of Peru

Peru was not on my top 10 places to visit this year- but we would have missed out on an incredible experience if I woudn't have taken up the offer! 5 of our friends, my husband and I recently returned from an exhilarating trek in Peru. Over the next few posts, I'll take up a certain aspect of Peru and put it in my words and perspectives for you. Hope you enjoy my experiences.

The first thing that I have to admire- (not about Peru) is my camera. Oh how I longed for it when we lost it in Puerto Rico. I think without this beauty, we would have missed out on capturing a lot of these wonderful memories..

Hola Puerto Rico..

Gorgeous beaches, beautiful Spanish architecture, great food and tons of adventure sports- that's what Puerto Rico is all about..actually add the fun loving people too. Lately, I've been in and out of Puerto Rico for work. Unfortunately, more out than in! The last time I was there, my husband joined me for a long weekend. That trip is definitely one of our best ones ever. Please note that no pictures were taken because our camera was stolen- that's another long story and not something that I'd want to remember..at least in this post.

Our trip started with the 'El Morro' or the old Spanish fort. Build on the north tip of Old San Juan, this fort offers beautiful views of old San Juan. Our hotel, the Hilton Caribe was a fantastic resort with a small private beach and three swimming pools with bars! The small lanes, cobbled streets and Spanish balconies in old San Juan reminded me of Europe. The local food was fantastic. Raices, a local restaurant caught our attention- it was quite non fancy but authentic. The Mufungo deserves a special mention- it's a mixture of mashed semi ripe bananas with meat or vegetables of your choice, served in a coconut shell. Very exotic and yummy! We then went to the Bacardi factory tour where they makes the world's largest supply of Rum outside of Cuba- it was a very fun and happy excursion :)

Overall, a very relaxing vacation- wish we had more time to dance Salsa and a camera in hand!

Where have I been lately?

Take a pick- which city do you want to know more about? Classy Denver or the TexMexan San Antonio? Or even Houston..I can write about all three of these and many more! My recent project has been taking me all around the country. In a week I go from a thick woollen coat to swimwear. The travel has been crazy as always, but more exciting than ever.

Let me start by telling you a little more about Denver, CO. Even before you land on the airport, you start seeing these gorgeous, snowcapped mountains. You won't be disapponted, cause the mountains follow you all through the city and beyond. The funniest part about the Denver airport has to be the sheer area it covers! After you get your rental car, you still have to drive another 10 whole miles before you get to the highway! It's bizzare how some small airports such as my SNA airport can actually fit in atleast 20 times in that huge a land mass! Oh well..

My friend who has now happily settled in Denver took pride in showing us around. The first place we went to was the downtown. Like any other small city downtown, this is full of restaurants and bars. The 16th street mall is a pedestrian mall which brings a very interesting cahracter to the city. you can sit in a cafe, Parisian style and while away an entire Saturday afternoon. If you're lucky, you'll get to see many entertainers and artists displaying their art to the city.

The Denver Art museum is a superb place to spend an afternoon. Not only is it filled with interactive spaces but also has some of the most creative art pieces I've ever seen. People tell me the MOMA in SF is way better, but since I haven't seen it yet, Denver art museum rocks for me for now!

Boulder, a college town about 30 miles from Denver reminded me of Ann Arbor minus the breathtaking mountains! It is the same small University town with eclectic shops, exotic palates and expensive tastes. Though it doesn't appeal to my usually empty pocket, I do like a soap place called 'Lush'- they have the most amazing bubble bath balls which burst into a riot of colros and champagne- YUMM. Must try! Also worth a try was this Nepali place called the 'Sherpa'- the cuisine was a blend of Tibetian and Indian food. Very interesting, however a little oilier than expected..

Other than the usual touristy things to do, the most exciting adventure in Denver was to stalk a celebrity- I'm gonna keep mum and let you guys guess about our secret mission!!

:D

Overall I loved the city for it's laid back, athletic but very cultured atmosphere.

Peruvian Paila

This blog might very well be turning into a food and restaurant review blog, but that's fine. I want to write and share my thoughts and reviews with friends and family so they don't make the same mistakes I've made! Though this Peruvian restaurant, Paila, wasn't a mistake at all.

Located in a dingy corner near the airport, you probably would overlook it if you weren't hunting for it! This restaurant was recently opened in Austin by a Peruvian family. The menu is a great mix of vegetarian and meat dishes. Everything looked so good in the menu, that we ended up ordering almost the entire menu! The ceviche held a place of it's own in the medley we'd ordered. It was a very light tilapia marinated in lime juice with a lot of onions and yuccas. Also worth mentioning is the hen aji, a shredded chicken dish in mayo served with rice. Even the dessert was a caramel flan with a little coconut flavor- Overall, the food was fabulous!

The only problem was the service, especially for vegetarian dishes. Our vegetarian friends were starving while we were gorging on the meat :) So, if you are a vegetarian, bring along a computer! They have free Wi-fi :)

Orange counties poles apart

One of my latest assignments has been in Orange county. You may think it's home for me, but before you jump to conclusions, look around..about a 1000 miles on the map- I'm in Orange County, TX!


Whats up ya'lllllllllllll and the drawl never stops! I'm in no mood to beat this town down, cause the people here are just wonderful gems! Really warm and loving, these people have a character of their own!

Let's talk about food- The best place to eat in town is a place called Spanky's ;) No- it's not a strip club..It's a restaurant which serves very healthy food- A lot of fried Gator meat, a little salad with TONS of cheese, fried cheesesticks loaded with butter, fried catfish, fried chicken ..Oh wait- after all this, how can you say no to Dessert? It's fried Twinkies you know!! Man, I've put on at least 10 lbs on this project just thinking about all this food.

I once wore my high heels and a skirt to work - I was ogled at as if I were from VENUS! Ever since I made sure I had my overalls and safety shoes with a helmet on- even then, I was the best dressed in town :)

Ohh wait- once when we were in a restaurant, my entire team happened to be non American- we had me, an Indian, a Brit, an Australian, a Dutch and a Ghanian. The waitress came up to us and said "Awwww- you all look so different- are you related??!!"

Poles apart as they are, I found Orange County, TX much warmer (both mercury and hospitality wise) and genuine than my own county!

Saucy Salsa

I've never comprehended the Indian need to be 'hep' or different by naming their kids with names even they can't understand.

Once, while still in India, I was visiting an aunt, who had a few guests over. The center of attraction of the crowd was this beautiful green eyed baby girl, called 'Salsa'! I was so intrigued by the name, that I dared to ask her mom, "So, what does the word 'Salsa' mean to you?" She replied, "Oh, it's a name of a dance and there's also a Mexican sauce by the name"... Like I didn't know!

I was appalled! If this trend of naming your kid with 'cool' names continues, this poor little girl will grow up into a beautiful young woman called 'Salsa', and would be wooed by many a guys probably called 'Picante' or 'Guacamole'!

Funny eh..

Grand Sushi

My Japanese teammate swears by this restaurant. According to him, this sushi is even better than the one served in Japan. The team was in this hotel, called the Grand in Minneapolis. We used to frequent their sushi restaurant as our local hang out. Coincidentally, their sushi restaurant happened to be the best in the city. Our connesiuers vouch for the 'Aji sushi' served there. If you're looking for a special sushi date, the Grand it is. Well, mind you, everything comes with a price, and this sushi, migh burn a little hole in your pocket- so, I would recommed it only for a special night with your special someone.

Tapas in Solera

I was pleasantly surprised by eateries in Minneapolis. Of all the places in the world, Minneapolis downtown has a great array of restaurants, bars and clubs. In the summer months these restaurants and cafes set up tables on the sidewalk. The pleasant atmosphere attracts many downtowners for evening office get togethers and happy hours.

One such restaurant that attracted us was Solera- their menu offers an assortment of tapas- the chef experiments and offers new tapas every season. The winner on the menu is the deviled eggs with blue crab and cumin. Every tapa has a very distinct and lasting taste. If you happen to be in Minneapolis, http://www.solera.com/ is a must east!

What appeals to me in Tapas is not just the spices but the tiny portions. I think that allows you to taste multiple dishes without being over full. Check out Solera if you happen to be in the twin cities area. A definite 4.5 star recommendation from moi!

San Diego

Hectic client engagements make you forget that you work in beautiful cities worth vacations. One such client made my drive to San Diego from Orange county. That is a beautiful, scenic drive alongside the ocean. Not that I minded the drive, I wasn't so sure I wanted to work crazy hours, and as usual end up not enjoying the city.

However, I was surprised to check into my hotel. It was a gorgeous hotel, overlooking the harbor and the ocean. I went up to my room only to see this breathtaking view. I am a patient of acute Thalassophobia (phobia of the sea) and I did not have the nerves to look out of my window at night. This picture was taken in bright light with a few overcast clouds. But just imagine how pretty it would've been at night!

Of new places and faces

Surprised to see me back in the game? Well, I'm here to stay, for long. Was away enjoying my brief sabbatical!

The reason I wasn't writing was my busy travelling schedule. However, I realised, this schedule has shown me many places, and new faces. So now on, I'll try and post snippetts about interesting people, places and fun things to do..

Keep visiting!!

Real Love

Ann Arbor's music and art enthusiasts recently had a chance to witness John Lennon's lesser known art. Lennon's paintings are on display in Ann Arbor for a few days. I had the opportunity of catching the exhibits today. 'Bag one', his gift to Yoko on their wedding night was a collection of sketches celebrating their union. This collection apparently had a few erotic lithographs, which were confiscated by the London police. A few of them which were displayed today were indeed scandalous. However, given an artist's license he had every right to express his love for his wife.

The one collection that caught my eye was 'Real love', his gift to his son Sean. The vibrant colours in the pictures look very cute and the collection stands apart from the rest. Have a look for yourself..

Overall, quite an interesting collection, although it's apparent why Lennon was known more for his music than his art!

Schools done..

I was a bit sad today as I left the classroom. The last class of my Masters program. May be my last class forever..or may be not! Schools done for me..for now!!

One and a half years ago I had very little clue of what I was getting into. Looking back I wonder, did my Masters really give me all that I had come here for? I would proudly say, that not only did this teach me tons of what I always wanted to learn, but also taught me a lot about life. That I think has been my most important lesson. This phase made me very introspective. Made me critically analyze every step I took, questioning some things I'd taken for granted in life, and reinforcing some choices. I'm happy I learnt about myself as much as I learnt about operations!

Now starts a new, exciting phase with a lot more to learn and even more to do!!!!

Lifes so blue.... :p

There's some uncanny connection between my life and the colour Blue!
Starting with my school logos,













to where I worked












and now...



Is it that or is it just that blue's a very common color !!??!!

Happy Diwali- Halloween- Id!

National Integration. This could well have been an ad on an Indian government channel - all of us celebrating all three in equal enthusiasm. We celebrated all three this week by a fabulous wine n dine party. The food was too yummy and too (un)healthy. Catch a glimpse of what we ate!

Trick O' Treat

Halloween's just around the corner and its time to scare, get scared and worship the holy spirit! In true spirit of Halloween, instead of partying, we carved a few pumpikins.

China and Parag, the enthu souls brought the pumpkins. Harry and I drew on 'em and Parag, Anagha and China did a great job of carving. Dont they look awesome with the lights turned off?
After carving, we had a long session of spooky ghost stories. With ghosts on the train to ghosts in open grounds, we narrated 'em all! A nice start to Halloween ..
Now I want the good part..the tons of candy!

Trick O' Treat! Have a spooky and Happy Halloween..

Arresting Spam Comments

Every time I visit my blog, I see an increased number of comments left by my readers. This used to excite me earlier, but nowadays I know its just another spam comment. So starting today, I've enabled the word type in my blog to ensure I get comments from real people and not some freaky computer code written by an advertizer.

Keep commenting real people!

Blogger Power!

Recently a friend of mine published a post on his blog related to some Indian management school's false advertisements. Unfortunately, the legal advisor of the school slapped him with a suit worth 125 crores! Apart from fighting the law suit, he also had to resign from IBM, since he didn't want to tarnish their image. Everyone from the blogosphere has been supporting him in his fight for his freedom of expression! This has made him a celebrity as NDTV and Indian Express have been reporting the story!

Kudos to Gaurav for standing by his convictions and having the courage to fight a suit worth 125 crores!
:p

Flowers make me happy :o)

The fuller they bloom, the broader my smile!

Experiencing Ann Arbor

A friend from Cincinnati was in town for just over two hours and wanted to meet me and experience 'Ann Arbor'. It was my chance to show him around the lovely town and make sure he loved it by the time he left. Thankfully the beautiful weather and the fall colours made it a super day. We started out from Willowtree apartments, which looked lovely in the weather.

Driving down Plymouth we reached Zingermans. This place is located in the historic part of Ann Arbor called Kerrytown. Zingermans is known for its traditional Jewish dishes and is one of America's best known Delis. The sandwiches are too yummy and too filling. I strongly recommend the chicken barbecue sandwich and the potato au gratin. Too good to miss!

After Zingermann's we headed out to the central campus, where I showed my friend the Law school and the campus full of fall colours.

Ashley's is one bar you cannot skip when you are in Ann Arbor. Right on State street , in central campus is this bar which serves about 70 beers on draught and boasts of a global beer collection. They serve Belgian, English, Scottish and tons of other beers. We had a wheat beer sampler, which had four very sweet and light ales. I think Ashleys is the only place where I actually enjoy beer!

All in all, a day that ended unexpectedly well!

Araktini Prasad!
Cheers!

Fab birthday bash!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! had a fabulous day! here is a pic of the night out with my friends...